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Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 1
Social Dimension Issue 2 | October 2018
CONTENTS
Editorial Team’s
Note
Page 1
Highlights and
Events
Pages 2 to 6
Fun Facts
Page 3
Our Gems
Pages 7 to 9
Perspectives
Page 10 to 19
Announcements
Page 19
EDITORIAL TEAM’S NOTE
Dear Social Work Colleagues,
Warm greetings from the Social Dimension editorial team!
Since the last issue in April 2018, the editorial team is heartened to have more members
coming on board to support our efforts and also humbled by members who sent
encouragement messages in response to April’s issue. The team wishes to extend our heartfelt
gratitude to Dr Ngiam for his email to SASW on the publication efforts the association had
taken many years ago.
In our current issue, we have attempted to capture some significant events in the sector, to
keep members informed, to stimulate critical thinking in these areas of work and to allow for
members to seek connections with relevant initiatives in the field. Over recent months, there
seems to be much buzz about several initiatives that members are embarking on beyond those
that we were able to cover in this issue. This is a timely reminder about the teeming interest
and enthusiasm that professionals across the fraternity have been showing over the state of
social work practice in Singapore. Thank you for your presence and participation in many of the
sector’s initiatives and the unwavering commitment that you have extended in being present
over and above daily work.
With the release of this issue, the team also aspires to allow the voices of social work
professionals across various eras, settings and personal backgrounds to be heard and privileged.
We hope that the intermingling and exchanges will represent the vibrancy and diversity of this
sector, and that your views and comments will keep coming in via [email protected].
The Editorial Team would like to acknowledge professionals who have come forth to
contribute to this issue of Social Dimension. Without your articles and interviews, this issue
would not have been possible. On that note, we will also like to extend our appreciation to
their organisations that have supported their efforts.
Meanwhile, this issue of Social Dimension invites you to interact with the various subjects that
we have attempted to bring to you. We do hope these efforts continue to encourage
exchanges amongst Social Work Professionals, inform and increase service standards and unify
the fraternity under a common professional identity.
Till the next issue, keep well!
Prema Mohan, Registered Social Worker (RSW)
Chair, Publications
Singapore Association of Social Workers (SASW)
WE WOULD
LOVE TO HEAR
FROM YOU!
Send in your views and
comments to
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 2
HIGHLIGHTS
& EVENTS
SUPERVISION OF
SUPERVISION
SYMPOSIUM 2018
The following article is contributed
by Ms Goh Yan Ling, Senior
Manager, Viriya Community
Services (VCS). VCS saw through
the inaugural Supervision of
Supervision Symposium in March
2018 to fruition.
VCS has been progressive in
picking out professional growth
needs of practitioners and is
actively spearheading collective
efforts in ensuring that supervision
quality and effectiveness is
maintained. With this foresight,
competency and capacity building
of professionals can be multiplied
and reach out to many
organisations who may not
necessarily have sufficient internal
resources to boost practice
standards and quality.
Together with VCS we celebrate
this proud moment as Ms Goh
reminiscences the experiences of
the two days.
Event
Over the years, supervision has
become an essential part of
social work to ensure ethical
and quality practice. For
supervision to fulfill its purpose,
it is important to have good
and effective supervision
conducted by competent
supervisors. Supervision of
Supervision is integral in ensuring that supervision remains effective,
relevant and impactful. With this in mind, Viriya Community Services
(VCS) organised the inaugural Supervision of Supervision Symposium
2018 held on 14th to 15th March 2018, to bring social workers,
counsellors, supervisors and leaders together to explore ideas
surrounding Supervision of Supervision.
The event was attended by 84 practitioners and supervisors from over
30 different agencies across various sectors spanning from ministries,
professional bodies, hospitals, social services and private practices.
Professionals came together to explore and deepen the understanding
of Supervision of Supervision. We were also honoured to have Ms Ang
Bee Lian, Senior Director, Ministry of Social and Family Development,
as our Guest-of-honour.
Dr Agnes Ng, the Chief Executive Officer of The Nurturing Education,
Hong Kong, who has been influential in the development of supervision
practices among Hong Kong social workers, was the expert speaker
for the symposium. She had also been the Project Director of the
Supportive Supervision Scheme under the Hong Kong Social Workers
Association.
Experience
Supervision is a necessary process of guidance that social workers of all
levels receive or are given. As such, Supervision of Supervision is
gaining greater attention. The Supervision of Supervision Symposium
integrated Dr Ng’s expertise and contextualised this to our local
practice settings through conversations and intellectual exchanges with
our local giants in the social work sector. Ms Ang Bee Lian, Ms Lee
Yean Wun, Ms Long Chey May, Ms Nancy Ng, and Ms Yogeswari
Munisamy shared their views and expertise at this event as we come
together as a collective to journey deeper into Supervision of
Supervision.
The collective effort was evident through the active participation of the
attendees who shared their experiences and demystified curiosities on
Supervision of Supervision – both as supervisors and supervisees. In
fact, the symposium witnessed generations of supervisors, some of
whom were supervised by fellow experienced participants at the
symposium and who have since developed into experts themselves!
The symposium saw the coming together of wisdom and experiences
across sectors, generations and individuals towards a comprehensive
understanding and good competency in Supervision of Supervision.
Possibilities
Providing quality supervision at regular intervals in practice, with
consciousness about supervision knowledge base and skills, has been a
challenge for many practitioners. Sharing these challenges and
vulnerabilities is a greater, most often, unspoken burden.
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 3
With the spark being ignited
through the Supervision of
Supervision Symposium, we
hope such conversations can
emerge. We also recognize that
more intentionality, resources
and commitment is required to
move this journey forward. The
symposium opened many doors
for conversations among
practitioners to take place and
possibly to find connections
where interests matched
between them.
VCS is committed to partnering
our fellow colleagues in the
sector to enhance Supervision
of Supervision. For a start, next
in VCS’ pipeline is a practice
research project on the
identification of essential
practice behaviours that
promote positive supervisory
relationship which has been
found to be critical in the
provision of effective
supervision.
Following this; there will be
various initiatives to continue
the numerous conversations
that have taken place during the
symposium with various
sections of the community so
as to bring together the joint
expertise and resources and
materialise collection action
eventually.
In each problem, we seek
possibilities, and, in each
restraint, we identify resources.
Together, we will achieve.
Following SASW’s inaugural e-publication, we
received an email response from Dr Ngiam, Tee
Liang, Associate Professorial Fellow, National
University of Singapore (NUS), Department of
Social Work. In his email, Dr Ngiam recollects
significant facts about Social Dimension in the past.
Thank you, Dr Ngiam, for connecting us to the
efforts of the past that continues to inspire the Social Work fraternity to this
day!
Did you know Dr Ngiam was the editor of Social Dimension from 1971 to
1973? Read on to find out more.
Fun Facts
To access some of the work of our past editorial teams, click on the following links:
https://www.sasw.org.sg/public/documents/socialdimension2010_issue1.pdf
https://www.sasw.org.sg/public/documents/Social%20Dimension%202_2011.pdf
The current Editorial Team and Publication Sub-Committee Members
will like to extend their heartfelt gratitude to the committees before us
that kept publication efforts going.
Subject: RE: Social Dimension April 2018
Dear Prema,
Congratulations on e-publishing Social Dimension! You and your team did
a good effort with the first issue to provide a communication channel for
fellow social workers.
It’s a co-incidence that “Social Dimension” was also the title of the SASW
newsletter that was first published in 1971. I was the editor from 1971 -
1973 and an editorial board member from 1974 – 1976. SASW
continued publishing it for a number of years. I wonder if SASW still keeps
copies of the publication?
Technically, the new publication may be considered as an inaugural e-
publication, since SASW had published Social Dimension in paper form
before.
All the best and regards, Ngiam
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 4
SOCIAL WORK
INDUCTION CAMP
(SWIC) 2018
Ms Joan Fang, Membership
Chair of SASW’s Executive
Committee, successfully oversaw
the 9th run of the Social Work
Induction Camp (SWIC),
organised once in 2 years. Ms
Fang is highly committed and
passionate about SASW’s
membership numbers and is
currently working hard with her
Membership Standing Committee
Members to increase membership
numbers in order to boost the
standing of the Association.
The Committee saw the highest
number of SWIC participants this
year. Students were highly
encouraged to sign up as Student
Members and membership fees
were included in the SWIC’s fees.
Ms Fang’s gregarious nature and
the committed team behind her
reached out to many rising social
workers through SWIC 2018.
SWIC was first introduced by
the Singapore Association of
Social Workers (SASW) in
1999 to engage social work
students and steer the growth
of their professional aspirations.
Although it was discontinued
briefly in 2005, it was revived in
2008. SWIC had since been a
biennial 2 Days 1 Night camp
organised by the Membership
Standing Committee of SASW
and volunteers of the
Association. Number of
participants had increased from
39 in 2010 to 85 in 2018, with
much positive feedback.
Additionally, SWIC had also
seen increased involvement of
past camp participants as
professional facilitators in
recent years. This is a
testament to the impact SWIC
has in inducting aspiring Social
Workers to join the Social
Work fraternity. SWIC 2018 is
in its 9th run. The main
objectives of the camp were to
provide a platform for:
1. The formation of a
professional identity for
social work students by
a. Understanding and
being inspired to join
the profession from the
sharing of and
interaction with
practitioners in the field
b. Being more informed
about and being
prepared for the
challenges faced by
social workers in the
field
c. Reflecting upon
themselves as aspiring
social workers
2. The creation of networks
and exchanges between
students from different
schools of social work
3. Connecting with SASW and
contributing as members
and/or volunteers
The successful conclusion of
SWIC 2018 was made possible
by the organizing committee,
which comprised of social
workers from diverse fields,
Mavis Khoo Fund, SASW’s
Executive Committee and staff,
many more passionate social
workers who volunteered and
helped out at the camp, and the
newly inducted social work
students.
Reflections
The following are reflections by
Sabrina Ang Xiao Ling, a Year 4
Social Work Student, from
National University of Singapore
(NUS), based on her experiences
at SWIC.
SWIC 2018 Organizing Committee
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 5
SASW’s recent Social Work
Induction Camp 2018 was
initially promoted as a camp
whereby participants would
expect to gain greater insights
about the social work
profession and form new
friendships with fellow
practitioners or peers. Entering
camp with a fresh and open
mindset, I merely hoped to
meet other like-minded social
work students and learn from
the activities planned. To my
great surprise, my takeaways
from this camp exceeded all my
expectations.
Amongst the many activities
lined up for us, the “Human
Library” segment left the
greatest impression for me.
As I interacted with
practitioners who have been in
the field from 2 years to even
30 years, I witnessed and felt
everyone’s passion to serve the
community in their own ways.
Despite the different fields of
practices with various emphasis
in intervention, I could still feel
the same passion to serve and
love for the clients. I was truly
inspired by the practitioners as
they shared their experiences
and challenges, yet still
motivated to do more for their
clients. This activity started the
camp off on a good note, as it
reinforced my own passion to
serve.
Furthermore, it was a good
platform for me to explore
possible options for the future
beyond the limited knowledge
gained from my two internships.
I learnt about the type of work
in correctional settings and
protection services – two of
which I was not particularly
interested in previously, but
after the sharing, it made me
feel less averse to serving in
these statutory services.
Listening to everyone’s reasons
and purposes in the field, it also
got me thinking about my own
purpose for being a social
worker. It is really quite
intriguing to be doing so much
self-reflection in a camp, instead
of having fun and participating
in activities. Instead, the camp
provided a safe environment
for us to think and be in touch
with our own emotions and
thoughts.
The visit to the vulnerable
populations was also another
memorable activity – my group
did a night walk along East
Coast Park to better
understand the living conditions
of the homeless in Singapore.
Albeit the main purpose of the
walk which was for us to
empathize with this population,
it provoked a part of me as a
social worker that I did not
realize had existed. Besides
having empathy, I realize that I
am strongly passionate about
believing in the strengths of any
population we work with.
Social Workers and Social Work Students present at SWIC 2018
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 6
These people may not live in
the optimal living conditions as
deemed by society, but they
have strengths to be
championed too! They are
survivors who are strong and
resilient and are living life to
the best of their abilities.
A night walk can give us a
glimpse of how tough their lives
can be, but our empathy does
not end there. I realized that
beyond helping clients with
their presenting problems, it is
of greater importance for us to
recognize and celebrate their
capabilities amidst their
adversities. This was translated
in the words that I preferred to
use during my reflections –
choosing to use words like
“strong” and “resourceful”,
instead of “sad” and “pitiful”.
Having the ability to relate to
our clients does not necessarily
refer to simply understanding
their problems, as in reality we
are not able to do so
completely.
We should seek to understand
our clients’ life scripts - both
the tough times and the best
moments. It is really quite
remarkable that from a single
activity, I am inspired to apply
what my professors have taught
me in school to actual practice.
Although I have done quite a
few outreach and night walks
previously, I was able to reflect
more on how the walk
impacted myself and my
practice, which could only have
been possible with the help of
my facilitators.
In addition, there were sharings
and brainstorming sessions
amongst participants so that we
could all share ideas about the
social services scene in
Singapore. All in all, this camp
has definitely ignited my passion
for this profession and for my
clients. I have also made many
new friends who shared
anecdotes about varsity life
with peers from other
Universities and with practicing
social workers who have given
me valuable advice about
starting work.
Thank you SASW for the
amazing SWIC, which lasted
two days, but left me with
many takeaways, which I will
continue to ponder over and
actively apply in my future
work!
A station from the “Human Library” Segment: Interacting with veteran
Social Workers
A briefing session before the night walk along ECP Social Work Students Presenting their Findings
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 7
OUR GEMS
Ms Florence Lim is a veteran
Social Worker with about 37
years of work experience in the
social services in Singapore. After
her graduation from National
University of Singapore (NUS) in
Social Work and Sociology in
1979, she started her journey as
a Community Worker at
Singapore Children’s Society in the
same year. Following this she has
been with the family services
department in the community at
Methodist Welfare Services for
nearly 30 years since 1987. Apart
from involvement in the Social
Services, Florence enjoys nature
walks. She engages in line dancing
for leisure and helps out at the
Residents’ Committee in her
neighbourhood. She has been
serving as an auditor in Toa Payoh
Zone 2 Residents’ Committee for
the past 35 years and recently
received the Passion Award for
Community Service.
Ms Lim’s experience in the social
service sector spans from being a
social worker engaging in direct
practice to undertaking
management roles. Forerunners in
the field like Ms Lim have great
insights to pass on and the Social
Dimensions team set out to get
some of these pearls of wisdom
from Ms Lim in an exclusive e-
interview.
How did you get connected
to the Social Work field?
With my involvement as a first-
aider in the Red Cross Society in
my secondary school years, it was
natural for me to aspire to be a
nurse. My passion to be a nurse
was squashed by my father’s
strong objection. One day after I
received my letter of acceptance
from the Arts and Social Science
Faculty, I chanced upon a
newspaper article on youth issues
that geared my heart towards the
Social Work field.
Share with us about your
Social Work career journey
In 1979, I started work as a
community worker at Singapore
Children’s Society and was
involved in early intervention work
with vulnerable youths and
children in Toa Payoh. I worked
with street corner youths or
“detached youths” and organised
street camps/fiesta and weekly
play schemes to identify children
at risk and worked with them in
small groups with the help of
volunteers.
6 years later, with the need to
prove to myself that I can
contribute outside the social
service sector, I joined HDB as an
Assistant Estate Officer in their
Training and Social Admin Unit in
the Estates and Lands Division
under Mrs Thung Syn Neo. I was
involved in the training of HDB
Officers in handling social
problems in housing estates as
well in providing them with
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 8
consultation and assistance via
regular home visits with the HDB
Officers.
After 2 years in HDB, I realised
that my heartbeat was still in the
social service sector especially the
direct services in the community.
As such, I heartily accepted the
job offer by Paya Lebar Methodist
Church in August 1987 to set up
a Family Service Centre (FSC). In
1997, this FSC became a joint
project with Methodist Welfare
Services (MWS) and moved to
Hougang. After nearly 30 years in
MWS Covenant FSC-Hougang as
a director, I was transferred in
2017 to MWSFSC-Yishun as a
Principal Social Worker.
How did these career
experiences contribute to
your professional life?
Share with us about the
learnings, changes and
convictions you have
adopted along the way
through these experiences?
My first job was very rewarding as
I have a wealth of learning from
the youths I worked with. I learnt
the importance of empathy, trust
and availability as well as about
the role of a good therapeutic
relationship in working with youths.
Another invaluable learning was
the importance of the social work
core value of respecting the dignity
and worth of a person. I was also
blessed to be able to manage a
group of passionate volunteers
who were able to impact the lives
of the children and youths in the
community.
In my second job in HDB, I was
proud to be part of the team and
small unit anchored by Mrs Thung
Syn Neo to spur HDB Officers to
be more proactive and better
equipped to handle social
problems in the housing estate. I
was inspired by Mrs Thung and
her role and competency in
advocacy then. She was able to
highlight the plight of the needy
families who were in rental
arrears and who had their utilities
supply disconnected. She was thus
instrumental in advocating with
the then Ministry of Community
Development (MCD) and
Singapore Council of Social
Services (SCSS) in setting up the
Rent, Utilities and Assistance
Scheme (RUAS).
In my 30 years in an FSC, I have
encountered the evolution of the
FSC model, with changes
practically every 2 to 3 years. It
was tiring but I was able to
embrace and keep abreast of
these changes by acquiring new
knowledge and skills. There is a
constant need to be open to
learning and relearning as well as
to deepen practice wisdom and
enlarge my role. I must admit that
there were times of frustration
and l do get overwhelmed by the
turbulence in the sea of changes,
instability and uncertainty.
However, being focused on my
calling and the fact that “His
grace is always sufficient for me”
has helped me to move on.
Spirituality has also been my
anchor.
My years in the social service
sector has deepened my belief in
the worth of every individual, client
or colleague. With a strength-
based lens, I will intentionally look
for their strengths and help them
develop and build on it.
What is your experience of
the Social Work profession
today? What has been
similar or different?
Our client profile has changed.
There is a shift of social work
practice focused on practical and
singular needs to working with
vulnerable families with high risk
and complex, multiple problems.
Social Workers are now more risk
focused, child centric and even
trauma informed.
In my early years at the FSC,
anyone can be employed in an
FSC as long as you have a heart in
working with families, children and
youth. FSCs could organise any
parent education, developmental,
preventive and outreach program.
On hindsight, I could see that the
focus on such programs had
diluted the casework and
counselling provided to individuals
and families.
There is now a robust system
spearheaded by MSF to ensure
quality in our services and staffing.
There is emphasis on the Code of
Social Work Practice (CSWP) and
social work competencies evident
with the adoption of the National
Social Work Competency
Framework to guide employers,
our Social Work educators and
training providers.
Social Workers and Counsellors
are now guided by the CSWP in
their social work practice and
have explicated stated
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 9
competencies in assessment and
intervention.
I experience the
professionalisation of Social Work
with VWOs mainly employing staff
with relevant social work
qualification as well as core
competencies for the job
requirement, as contributing to
our collective identity of Social
Workers. Supervision of Social
Workers is also beefed up with
relevant training provided to
enhance competency.
Social Work has now transformed
itself into a profession of integrity
and competence.
What do you envision for
the social work sector in
Singapore?
We need to constantly review our
mission and vision and ensure that
it reflects the changing needs in
society. With the introduction of
SSNet and digitalisation of data,
we need to be clear on what we
are doing and see if it leads us to
where we are going.
As we are working with more
vulnerable families with complex,
multiple social issues like
incarceration, addiction, single
parenthood, unwed motherhood,
child abuse, family violence, having
a heart is not enough. There is a
need to develop competent and
reflexive social work practice. We
need to invest in developing the
quality and effectiveness of social
work practice and uphold best
practice standards.
There is a need for people on the
ground to focus on evidence-based
practice research and for available
funding/training to support this
effort.
For effectiveness and efficiency of
service delivery, we need to relook
at our manpower, (ratio of Social
Workers to clients) sharpen our
leadership and reorganise our
existing facilities as well as
enhance our partnership with our
key stakeholders.
As social workers, we can continue
to make significant contribution to
address the gaps in social services
and advocate for new services for
the vulnerable communities.
What keeps you going in
the sector?
With 37 years in the social service
sector, I am able to see positive
changes in my ex-clients. I still
keep in touch with the first group
of youth I worked with and it
warms my heart that a number of
these youth that I worked with
decades ago are successful adults
with their own families.
My reward is also seeing that a
few of my ex-clients ‘children have
chosen social work as their career.
This has energized me to remain
in the social service sector.
What words of
encouragement do you
have for younger social
workers in the sector?
Serve in the social service sector
only if you have the passion and
interest in helping people. Each
client is a unique person and there
is no one size fit it all approach in
working with clients. Fitting unique
needs and empathising with
varied situations in the lives of the
vulnerable can sometimes be
frustrating and disappointing.
During these times the passion
and interest gets us all through.
Next, you need to ensure that you
get supervision. Make sure you
make time for reflexive practice
and be client-focused and not task
and paperwork focused.
Stay at least 5 years in the sector
if you want to see changes or
desire to make a difference.
You are responsible for your own
growth and development. You
need to keep abreast of changes
in the social service sector by
ensuring that you receive relevant
training.
Finally, to remain effective as a
social worker, you need to be
prepared to embrace changes and
be armed with never-say-die spirit,
perseverance and determination.
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 10
PERSPECTIVES
This issue brings you a few articles contributed
by social work trained human services
practitioners in the field. They write about
topics of interest that they have interacted with
for several years of their practice.
Ms Kek Seow Ling, Principal Social
Worker/Deputy Executive Director for Lutheran
Community Care Services (LCCS), writes about
Restorative Justice to get Social Workers in
Singapore curious about Restorative Justice and its
use in their practice. Read about how Restorative
Justice aligns with social work values such as the
importance of relationships, dignity and worth of the
person, and social justice. And, find out what
principles guide Restorative Justice interventions.
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE AND SOCIAL
WORK PRACTICE
This paper seeks to introduce the concept of
restorative justice and its appropriateness in
social work practice. I have used restorative
justice approaches in my work with families and
the community. Through literature review and
practice experience, I seek to make explicit the
practice of restorative justice by relating it to
social work values and mission and establishing
its working principles. Through this write up, it
is my hope that upon reading the article, social
work practitioners will be inspired to explore
restorative justice.
Restorative Justice Definitions
Three definitions of restorative justice resonate
with me. The first is that restorative justice is
“fundamentally concerned with restoring social
relationships, with establishing or re-establishing
social equality in relationships; relationships in
which each person’s rights to equal dignity,
concern and respect are satisfied” (Llewellyn
and Howse, 1998, p.1). According to Wachtel,
restorative practice 1 is a “social science that
studies how to build social capital and achieve
social discipline through participatory learning
and decision-making” (Wachtel, 2013). Using an
“explicit restorative relational practice
framework as a way of thinking and being, the
primary focus [of restorative practice] is on
building healthy relationships and stronger,
more connected communities” (Vennen, 2016,
p.127).
In essence, restorative justice is a way of being
that values human dignity and worth and seeks
to enable relational dialogues. It leverages on
interpersonal relationships to promote
sustained transformational change in self, family
and the community. This is aptly reflected in the
Relationship Window developed by Dorathy
Vaandering (2013):
Figure 1: The Relationship Window (Vaandering,
2013, p.329
1 The author refers the use of the term restorative justice
but there are practitioners who prefer to use the term
restorative practice.
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 11
Restorative Justice and Social Work Values & Mission
Restorative justice certainly interfaces with the social work values and the social work mission as defined by
the Singapore Association of Social Workers (SASW).
The following table illustrates how restorative justice espouses social work values (National Association of
Social Workers, 2008):
Table 1: Restorative Justice and Social Work Values
Social Work Values Restorative Justice (RJ) Approach
1 Service
RJ practitioners step back to facilitate, encourage and enable individuals
and families to craft their solutions; they do not seek to impose their ideas
and suggestions
2 Social Justice
RJ emphasises the voices of affected parties so that they may be heard and
have a say in the resolution of issues, notwithstanding their power and
status in the community or society
3 Dignity and Worth of the
Person
RJ practitioners focus on the deed rather than the doer and treat
individuals with respect and care by listening to and appreciating their
stories and perspectives, and creating platforms to enable their voices to
be heard by relevant stakeholders, to facilitate a holistic response to their
challenges.
4 Importance in Human
Relationships
RJ leverages on interpersonal relationships to promote sustained
transformational change
5 Integrity
RJ ensures that its process is “fair, respectful, transparent and non-
oppressive” by adhering to a set of working principles (Umbreit and
Armour, 2011, p.54)
6 Competence RJ practitioners strive to enhance their competency through training and
reflective practice, and sharing on their use of RJ interventions
According to the SASW, the mission of social work mission is described as follows:
“The social work profession is based on the belief in the value and dignity of all human beings,
and a concern for their well-being. The profession pays particular attention to the needs of
people who are in poverty, are vulnerable, and/or experiencing oppression. Social workers
consider the person in his/her environment – focusing on the individual and family, as well as
the environmental and societal factors that hinder the client’s well-being. Social work is
dedicated to enhancing the lives of human beings through the provision and development of
appropriate services, and the promotion of social planning and action” (Singapore Association
of Social Workers, 2017).
Table 2 illustrates how restorative justice is appropriate to fulfill the social work mission:
Table 2: Restorative Justice and Social Work Mission
Social Work Mission Element Restorative Justice
1. Belief in the value and dignity of all human
beings, and a concern for their well-being • Ensures an individual has a say in what matters to and affects
him/ her
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 12
Social Work Mission Element Restorative Justice
2. Needs of people who are in poverty,
vulnerable, and/or experiencing oppression • Aims to establish or re-establish social equality in
relationships, which satisfies a person’s rights to equal dignity,
concern and respect
• Leverages on strengths within individuals and the community
to enhance an individual’s well-being
3. Consider the person in his/her environment • Seeks to re-integrate the individual into the family,
community and society to enable him/her to thrive and
succeed
• Obtains support within the individual’s environment to create
solutions for change and growth
4. Enhancing the lives of human beings through
the provision and development of appropriate
services, and the promotion of social planning
and action
• Builds a collaborative working alliance with individuals, families
and communities to create ownership in solution building that
is respectful of the individual’s culture for sustainable
transformational change
Restorative Justice Principles
Being relational-focused, restorative justice practitioners attempt to work ‘WITH’ the families. This means
having high expectations of their potential and capacity for change, and at the same time providing the
necessary support. Through the collaborative working alliance, restorative justice practitioners seek to enable
the families to experience change and growth at both the individual and inter-personal levels.
To translate theory into practice, I propose the following principles to guide restorative justice interventions:
Figure 2: Restorative Justice Principles (Kek, 2018)
This set of principles are similar to those espoused by Terry O’Connell (2017), as well as Llewellyn, Archibald,
Clairmont and Crocker (2013, pp.301-304). In the Explicit Restorative Framework, O’Connell writes about
how the practice of restorative justice will result in new stories, enhanced capacity, and strong relationships,
while Llewellyn et. Al. writes about how Restorative Approach Principles help to establish relationships of
equals for participation in solution building. How these principles are translated into restorative justice
practices is illustrated in Table 3.
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 13
Table 3: Restorative Justice Principles and Practices
Principle
(Kek, 2018)
Practice
(Kek, 2018)
Terry O’Connell
Explicit Restorative Framework
Llewellyn, Archibald,
Clairmont & Crocker
Restorative Approach Principles
Human Dignity
• Recognising each individual has worth
• Focusing on the deed and not the doer
• Being restorative to facilitate re-integration of
individuals and groups
Restorative Philosophy: Restorative
dialogue that focuses on harm and
relationships
Relationship Focused:
Aim is to establish “just” relationships
that reflect equal respect, care/
concern and dignity
Empathy • Taking the perspective of others to see things
from their point of view
Create conditions for a safe
environment:
• To deal with vulnerabilities
• Builds trust and positive
experience
Comprehensive/ Holistic:
being relational in its understanding of
issues and harms
Respect and
Support
• Suspending judgments and adopting a ‘not-knowing’
stance to encourage individuals to express their
views
• Appreciating the narratives of others
• Providing emotional support and garnering support
for each other
Engagement and
Collaboration
• Striving to work “WITH” others, to create a
collaborative working alliance
• Providing a safe environment to facilitate sharing of
experiences by each individual and trust building for
solution-building
Relational Style:
Working ‘With’: High expectations &
High levels of support
Contextual/ Flexible:
Processes and practices that are
flexible and responsive to context.
Firm & Fair
• Being clear in expectations and boundaries
• Encouraging individuals to voice their needs and
concerns
• Mobilising support to enhance individuals’ capacity to
succeed in tasks agreed for purpose of re-integration
Fair Process:
• Engagement
• Explanation
• Expectation clarity
Dialogical or Communicative:
To assure encounter and participation
with one another
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 14
Principle
(Kek, 2018)
Practice
(Kek, 2018)
Terry O’Connell
Explicit Restorative Framework
Llewellyn, Archibald,
Clairmont and Crocker
Restorative Approach Principles
Empowerment
and Ownership
• Encouraging individuals to take responsibility
for their future
• Encouraging individuals to be accountable for
their decisions and actions
• Enabling the community or society’s agency
to own the issue, establish the solutions and
act to resolve the issue, rather than being
dependent on government’s mechanisms
Socratic Dialogue:
Restorative Questions
• Subsidiarity, Inclusion and
Participation:
Commitment to inclusion and
participation towards understanding
harm caused and contributions to
restore relationships
• Democratic/Deliberative:
Process to connect the legitimacy of
decision making to inclusive processes
through which deliberation takes place
Change and
Growth
• Change and growth happen when one works
with others, being responsible for one’s
future and accountable for one’s decisions
and actions
• Change and growth happen at both the
individual and community/societal levels
where the individual is re-integrated into a
community/society that is strengthened and
more equitable via the restorative justice
process.
Ideal Outcomes:
• Are able to make sense and
meaning of their lives;
• Are able to identify what is most
important in all that is happening;
• Get to work out what needs to
change and what their part will be
in this change process;
• Learn to build and sustain healthy
relationships
• Relationship Focused:
Aim is to establish “just” relationships
that reflect equal respect, care/concern
and dignity
• Forward-focused,
Solution-focused and Remedial:
Understanding what has happened to
know what needs to happen to address
the past with a view to creating
conditions for restored relationships in
the future
Conclusion
Guided by its working principles, restorative justice certainly satisfies the moral foundation of professional practice: autonomy, non-maleficence,
beneficence, and justice (Reamer, 2013). Being a relational-focused practice, restorative justice seeks to create conditions for individuals to express
themselves to have a say in their situations. It seeks to do no harm by creating a safe environment for dialogue. Restorative justice attempts to
build, restore and strengthen relationships in the community, thus improving the state and conditions of individuals with a longer-term positive
outcome. Finally, restorative justice focuses on the deed rather than the doer, being responsible and accountable for one’s actions and to repair the
harms caused.
As restorative justice is essentially a way of being, rather than doing, it can be used across the different contexts and levels of social work practice.
At the individual level, the individual can be challenged to reflect on his/her thoughts, feelings and actions and their consequences to work towards
a positive self-concept.
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 15
At the interpersonal level, restorative justice dialogue can facilitate empathy and change in a dyad. At the
family level, relationships are leveraged for co-creation of solutions to create a safe and strong environment
for the family members to thrive. At the community level, individuals can be re-integrated into the community
through restorative conferencing.
It is beyond the scope of my paper to discuss the utility of restorative justice in various contexts. It is however
an aspiration that through this introduction to restorative justice, social work practitioners get curious about
restorative practice and its use in social work practice.
Social work practitioners who are interested to know more about restorative justice can contact the author
via Email: [email protected]
References:
Llewellyn, J. L., Archibad, B. P., Clairmont, D., and
Crocker, D. (2013). Imagining Success for a
Restorative Approach to Justice: Implications for
Measurement and Evaluation. In Dalhousie Law
Journal. 36(2). 281 – 316.
Llewellyn, J. L., and Howse, R. (1998). Restorative
Justice – A Conceptual Framework. Prepared for the
Law Commission of Canada. Retrieved from
https://dalspace.library.dal.ca.
O’Connell, T. (2017). Why Restorative Practice
Works in Any Context- The Importance of Explicit
Practice. (PowerPoint Slides). Retrieved from
https://pheedloop.s3.amazonaws.com/media/events/bmy
k/sessions/files/bjFZSC_TOC%202017%20IIRP%20Prese
ntation.pdf
National Association of Social Workers. (2008).
Code of Ethics. Retrieved from
https://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/code.asp.
Reamer, F. G. (2013). Social Work Values and Ethics.
New York: Columbia University Press.
Singapore Association of Social Workers. (2017).
Singapore Association of Social Workers Code of
Professional Ethics. Retrieved from
https://www.sasw.org.sg.
Umbreit, M. and Armour, M. P. (2011). Restorative
Justice Dialogue: An Essential Guide for Research and
Practice. New York: Springer Publishing Company.
Vaandering, D. (2013). A Window on
Relationships: Reflecting Critically on a Current
Restorative Justice Theory. In Restorative Justice: An
International Journal. 1(3). 311 – 333.
Vennen, M. (2016). Towards a Relational Theory of
Restorative Justice. In Hopkins, B (Ed.) Restorative
Theory in Practice. UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
121 – 137.
Wachtel, T. (2013). Defining Restorative. Retrieved
from www.iirp.edu.
INSIGHTS FROM VOICES IN THE
COMMUNITY
RESTORATIVE JUSTICE CONFERENCE
Ms Kek Seow Ling, an accredited social worker with the SASW,
has obtained a Master in Social Science (Community Service
Management) from the University of Wales, Swansea and a
Bachelor in Social Science (Hons) in Social Work from the
National University of Singapore. She is also trained in restorative
practices by the International Institute for Restorative Practices
(IIRP) and Asset-Based Community-Driven Development (ABCD)
by Nurture Development, Ireland.
In her 15 years of social work practice, she has been involved in
case management, community work, social work supervision and
management. Ms Kek is passionate about restorative justice and
has used these approaches in the community setting.
Ms Kek will be conducting a workshop titled, Restorative Justice in
Singapore –
A Tool for Reflective Practice,
https://www.rpconferencelccs.com/blog/restorative-justice-in-
family-work-in-singapore-a-tool-for-reflective-practice
at LCCS’ Restorative Justice Conference (Theme: Building
Connected Communities: A Restorative Movement to Break the
Hurt Cycle) on 15-16 November at Shaw Foundation Alumni
House in the National University of Singapore.
For details on the workshop and conference visit https://www.rpconferencelccs.com/register
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 16
Mr Elisha Paul Teo Chien Woon, is a Senior Social
Worker with AMKFSC Community Services Ltd (Cheng
San FSC) and has four years of working experience in
the social services. Prior to this, Mr Teo, has 14 years of
working experience as a Senior Youth Worker with
another community-based organisation. He has a
strong interest and passion for community work and
leads a team at his current organisation to develop
community work practices with relentless enthusiasm. In this article, Mr Teo, shares his experiences in
working with the community of residents in Ang Mo
Kio.
REFLECTIONS ON LEARNINGS FROM
RESIDENTS ABOUT COMMUNITY
WORK
The Beginnings…
“Community work”, the term sparks off fond
memories of being acquainted with the concept
through my supervisor in my beginning years as a
community worker at AMKFSC Community
Services Ltd. It was almost a stroke of coincidence
that led me into taking the Community Work
portfolio from my supervisor who had to be away
on maternity leave. The conception of community
work in my career journey begun henceforth.
Located under a rental block in Ang Mo Kio, our office which started operations in 2014 was a
rather new branch. As curious social workers, we
wanted to understand the profile of the residents
whom we were tasked to serve and this curiosity
led us to organise ‘Focused Group Discussions’
with residents living in the flat that our branch
office was located. Influenced mainly by the Assets-
Based Community Development (ABCD)
approach, Narrative Therapy concepts, and an
eclectic mix of skills and knowledge base, we set
out to experiment with community work mostly
cautious but eager at the same time.
The ABCD approach was helpful in anchoring our
work in the familiar five core principles. These core
principles emphasised that community work has to
be:
1. Place-Based
2. Citizen-Led
3. Relationship-Oriented
4. Assets-Based, and
5. Inclusion-Focused
(Russell, 2018)
Narrative Therapy additionally provided us with a
map of White’s six main ideas, namely,
1. Externalisation Conversations
2. Re-authoring Conversations
3. Re-Membering Conversations
4. Definitional Ceremonies
5. Unique Outcome Conversations
6. Scaffolding Conversations
to explore possibilities within individuals and
communities (White, 2007). The de-centred
approach of Narrative Therapy necessitated the
team to take on a respectful, non-blaming and
collaborative stance in our interactions with
residents. We were constantly reminded through
the principles of the Narrative Therapy that people
are experts of their own lives and possibilities for
deep conversations arise when they are seen
separate from their problems. Like ABCD,
Narrative Therapy, assumes that people have many
inherent skills, competencies, abilities and that they
are motivated by beliefs and values that enable
them to work on their problems (Morgan, 2000).
Incorporating these beliefs and principles and
demonstrating these in our community work thus
was a pivotal shift that the team of us had to adopt
in our community work journey.
Creation of Friends n Neighbours Movement
With principles forming the bedrock of community
work, the Friends n Neighbours (FnN) movement
sprouted in 2017, following a few years of ground
work understanding the community we worked
with. Like Rome was not built in a day, the team
journeyed with community work for a good few
years and today FnN stands as a collaborative
programme where residents from vulnerable
housing areas meet social workers once a month to address and work on identified issues within the
community (AMKFSC Community Services Ltd.,
2016).
In my attempt to inspire social service agencies
contemplating doing community work, I bring to
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 17
you four stories of residents who have participated
and contributed to the community that they live in.
These residents have gone from being passive
recipients of professional helps or services at some
points in their lives to active contributors in the
society. *Pseudo names have been given to
residents to maintain the confidentiality of these
individuals.
*Ms Selvi
Ms Selvi was diagnosed with dissociative disorder
and she became unable to sustain her employment
due to her condition. This led to Ms Selvi often
feeling depressed and suicidal as she found there
was little purpose to life. Through our engagement
with her, we discovered that she has some useful
skills that could be utilised to benefit the
community. Ms Selvi is good at making handicrafts
and she knows a few of her neighbours rather well. We invited her to make some handicrafts and
created platforms for her to showcase her skills.
During last year’s Deepavali, Ms Selvi asked if she
could help social workers to organise a community
celebration event for her neighbours. We
consented and collaborated with her and other
residents. To our pleasant surprise she was able to
canvass for lucky draw prizes for the Deepavali
event. Through her involvement in FnN, Ms Selvi
regained some of her confidence and rediscovered
a sense of purpose. Ms Selvi’s experience and shift
is a reminder for professionals to look beyond the
labels given to people and to intentionally seek for
preferred stories that will strengthen their
identities (Wingard, 2001).
*Mdm Siti
Mdm Siti is a young Indonesian housewife with a
young child. Leaving her country behind after her
marriage to her Singaporean Husband, Mdm Siti felt
a sense of loss and disconnectedness from her
family back home. In the community here, Mdm Siti
and her family kept a low profile and would not
participate in events organised by the grassroots.
But through our community outreach efforts with
FnN Ambassadors, Mdm Siti stepped out of her
comfort zone. We uncovered a culinary gem in
Mdm Siti and invited her to put her culinary skills
to use, by providing opportunities for her to share
her signature dishes with other residents during
festive seasons and at grassroots’ events. Today,
Mdm Siti is a familiar face in her community and
neighbours would stop by to make small
conversations with her. Looking back at how far
Mdm Siti has journeyed, we have learned that if
only practitioners take time to make conversations
with our residents, we might just unravel stories of
strength and creativity (Wingard et al., 2015).
*Mr Ng
During our initial phase of engaging residents to
collaborate with Social Workers to organise
community events, we were taken aback by Mr
Ng’s comments about his neighbours. He shared
his unflattering views of his community and the
people residing in the area. Undaunted by his
views, we invited him to share his hopes and
dreams for his neighbours and neighbourhood at
our “Kopi Talk” sessions. It is at this platform
where scaffolding conversations took place and we
actively sought Mr Ng’s skills, gifts and strengths
(Nurture Development Limited, 2018). We
realised that Mr Ng shared a common passion of
social workers and wanted to fight social injustice.
He shared with us his desire to advocate for his
neighbours who were less well to do. Though Mr
Ng is not a client of our agency, we felt that a
partnership between residents and beneficiaries
will enhance community asset-building. Mr Ng
became our community events’ logistics person and
assisted us in writing an appeal letter to Town
Council and HDB when the residents faced a
chronic issue of noisy newspaper vendors at their
void deck. The step taken by Mr Ng, in turn led to
the Town Council and grassroots taking action
against the newspaper vendors and they were
issued a fine. The residents also saw Mr Ng as an
advocate for them and have started consulting him
on matters of their concern. With increased
credibility in the community, Mr Ng also turns to
Social Workers at the FSC for guidance whenever
the need arises.
*Christopher
Christopher is a Primary School boy who follows his grandmother, another FnN Ambassador, for
door knocking efforts whenever we organise
community outreach events. Through observing his
grandmother and other residents at work,
Christopher developed an interest to actively
volunteer with us. He went the extra mile to do a
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 18
video recording to share about the joys of
volunteering with 1,200 students from a school. His
video was shared during the school talk that Social
Workers conducted this year. The students were
very engaged when the video was screened and the
feedback from the school teachers were positive.
They appreciated how Christopher has turned out
to be role model for their students. As a result, the
school is currently in talks with the FSC to explore
possibilities for collaboration for their school’s
Values-In-Action day, this year.
In addition, Christopher’s family has expressed
being pleasantly surprised by his change in
demeanour and confidence. Overcoming his
shyness within a short period of time was a
challenge that his family was very pleased he
overcame. Today, Christopher joins our agency’s
Achieving Kids and Kins, a community-based
children’s programme, and is an active member
who helps in recruiting other children from the
neighbourhood to join the programme (AMKFSC
Community Services Ltd., 2016).
Continuing Efforts
Since the start of 2018, FnN Ambassadors and
Social Workers have been actively thickening the
preferred stories of their community by retelling
them to professionals in AMKFSCs during their
central cluster sharing and to 200 full time and part
time social work undergraduates at the local
universities such as National University of
Singapore (NUS) and Singapore University of Social
Sciences (SUSS). Feedback from students indicated
that they felt a strong resonance to the FnN
Ambassadors after listening to their contributions.
Outsider witness practice was also used during
some of the presentations at the universities
(Russell & Carey, 2004 and White, 2007). There
were also two junior FnN ambassadors whose
stories were video recorded and shared with 1,200
students at a local primary school.
In recognition of our ongoing efforts to reach out
and engage our community FnN has been selected
to be one of the beneficiaries for this year’s
President Challenge. It is the hope of the residents
and social service professionals that such forms of
community involvement will help to shape and
influence Singapore’s future community work
landscape.
The author of The Alternative: Most of what you
Believe about Poverty is Wrong, in his interview
with New York Times, 2017, reinforces the
importance of evaluation and impactful data that
will stir insights and create lasting changes.
“We found that by giving families data about what all
the families were doing, it began surfacing ideas. And
while it may take six or seven months for something to
happen, when a solution comes up naturally, it spreads.
The data is the driving force. We had an evaluator
come in and he found that the biggest driver of change
among families is what’s called “social signaling” —
when they see people who are like them doing
something that they would like to do too, like starting
businesses, buying homes. It creates jealousy,
inspiration, fear of missing out. And they also realize
that they can call someone who can help them. The
data makes these positive deviants and early adopters
more public, families share the stories, and it drives
changes” (Miller, M. L., 2017)
FnN aspires to embark on evaluative studies of the
impact existing community work efforts have
yielded and utilise these findings to further
influence resident led changes in the community.
In essence, we have learned through the process of
journeying with our residents that community
involvement and engagement evolve in dynamic
ways, throws at us surprises that we might not
always be prepared for but with the focus on
enabling and empowering people from all circumstances, no one can be without a significant
contribution to make to another. It takes a special
lens to zoom and focus on the hidden knowledges,
skills and abilities that communities inherently own.
One does not acquire this special lens through a
stroke of chance but through an intentional pursuit
of what is more than meets the eye.
Mr. Elisha Paul Teo is available at
[email protected] should you wish to connect with
him to explore having exchanges on Community Work
with him.
Social Dimension (E – Newsletter) Issue 2 | October 2018
PAGE 19
The Publications Sub-Committee
would like to call out for written
contributions related to your
professional work.
We will be glad to receive any
articles, reflection papers, research
studies, advocacy papers, good clinical
practice, case management,
programmes, community work and
management and governance practices
that you will like us to feature.
Do get in touch with us at
[email protected] to explore exciting possibilities!
We welcome all queries and
contributions.
ANNOUNCEMENT
WRITE WITH US!
References
Russell, C. (2018). Asset-Based Community Development.
Looking Back to Look Forward. In conversation with John
McKnight about the heritage of ABCD and its place in the
world today. United Kingdom
White, M. (2007). Maps of Narrative Practice. New York:
W.W. Norton.
Morgan, A. (2000). What is narrative therapy? An easy-to-read
Introduction. Adelaide, Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications
AMKFSC Community Services Ltd. (2016). AMKFSC Annual
Report FY 2016. Everyone Matters. Building a caring and
inclusive community (pp. 29.) Retrieved from
file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/AMKFSC%20AR%2016-
17%20LR2.pdf
Wingard, B. (2001). Listening to our People's Stories of
Survival. Wingard, B., & Lester, J. Telling our Stories in ways
that Make us Stronger. 10, 63-68. Adelaide, Australia: Dulwich
Centre Publications
Wingard, B., Johnson, C. & Drahm-Butler, T. (2015).
Decolonising identity stories: Narrative practice through
Aboriginal eyes. Aboriginal Narrative Practice: Honouring
storyline of pride, strength and creativity. Adelaide, Australia:
Dulwich Centre Publications
Nurture Development Limited. (2018). Nurture Development
/ Asset Based Community Development (ABCD)
Retrieved from
http://www.nurturedevelopment.org/asset-based-
community-development/,August 2018
Russell, S. & Carey, M. (2004). Commonly asked questions
about re-authoring conversations. In S. Russell & M. Carey,
Narrative Therapy: Responding to Your Questions. Adelaide,
Australia: Dulwich Centre Publications
Bornstein, D. (2017). When Families Lead themselves out of
Poverty, New York Times, 15th August 2017, retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/opinion/poverty-family-
independence-initiative.html,
August 2018
Acknowledgement
SASW would like to acknowledge the following
support extended by members for the release
of our E-Newsletter:
All Publications Sub Committee Members and
professionals who have taken time to share
their writings with us.
Special thanks to Ms Regina Anthony, Associate
Member of SASW, for the design work.